Local Music Monday: Patrick Maloney - AKA Body Baghdad

This week on Local Music Monday DeBraun Thomas profiles local rapper Patrick Maloney.

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Patrick Maloney performs under the stage name of Body Baghdad

Credit Leo Adkins

Patrick Maloney is a rapper and native of Lexington. As a child, he was surrounded by the music of Motown in his home, but as he came into his own, found a love of hip-hop. Maloney says he always enjoyed rapping, but didn’t take it seriously until 2014 when he started going to the local hip-hop open mic called The Foundation.

“I didn’t really take my rap seriously at all, I wasn’t writing rap then, but I had been like, freestyling with friends since high school, but it was kind of a private thing, I was kind of a closet rapper, so, them coming out with that, like having that avenue, it opened a door for me to feel like, ‘this is something I want to pursue now,’ I didn’t really take it like I was trying to take it professionally, but I just wanted to start writing songs, so that really opened up a door for me for sure.”

Maloney performs under the name Body Baghdad and as an artist, continues to hone his craft. While many get into music for different reasons, he says, his love of hip-hop goes hand in hand with his love of literature and lyricism.

“I kinda got more into writing poetry and that was always the reason I wanted to get in hip-hop because I felt that was the one thing that would set me apart is, having poetry that could stand up on the page, I mean, there’s definitely a lot of people that do it better than me that are doing it or have done it, but that’s one thing I’ve always loved about hip-hop is just like the poetry to the music and it’s a beautiful fusion of like all these genres that I grew up loving.”

His debut album Get Sick Soon is set to be released this year. The album was recorded and produced by JK-47. As an artist, Maloney says this was always part of the plan and that his love to listen to records, fueled his passions to make his own.

“Seeing what could really like, trying to think about how you could blend them into a full piece and that was always the goal, you know, I like singles and stuff, but it’s always been about just sitting down listening to a record in its entirety to just get the whole experience, so that’s always been the goal and kinda, that’s definitely the goal going forward and it just takes time.”

Patrick Maloney performs as Body Baghdad. More information about Maloney can be found at Soundcloud dot com slash Body Baghdad and on Facebook.